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Alexander Milroy in the Civil War

Alexander Milroy (1846 - 1881) also joined the Union Army (in addition to his father Robert and brother William) - he signed up with the 20th NYS Militia (80th NYSV). He apparently gave his age as 18 when he signed up in October of 1861. According to the family Bible transcription above, he would really have been only 15 or 16 at the time. At some point during his service, he was promoted to Corporal. His description is given as "5 feet 3 1/2 inches tall, light complexion, dark eyes, light hair." Army records show him as being discharged in 1865. On the Sons of Union Veterans Civil War grave database, there is an entry for MILROY, A. from the 80th NYSV, Company A. He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose, California. The Sons of Union Veterans database gives the death date as December 17, 1881. Headstones Provided for Deceased Union Civil War Veterans, 1879-1903, found on Ancestry.com, gives his death date as December 29, 1880. This is confirmed by the Register of Deaths for Santa Clara County in California.

A New York town clerk's record has the following note for Alex: "Deserted, was retaken, and is Still in Service". Alex apparently stuck with the army after he was retaken. The register is dated "ca. 1865-1867". Other records show him being discharged in 1865, so he doesn't appear to have stayed with the army very long after the war. Still not sure how much action he saw in service, if any. I recently found "New York, Registers of Officers and Enlisted Men Mustered into Federal Service, 1861-1865" on Ancestry.com, which further states that Alexander was punished for his desertion by being held in the service for an extra year. It also states that "In 80th Vol. Helped to plant the first flag in Petersburgh, Va."

Obituary of Alexander Milroy

The Rhinebeck GazetteJanuary 8, 1881page 5

(first part blurry and difficult to make out)

The sad intelligence of the sudden death Alexander Milroy in Gilroy, California, on Tuesday night, December 28?, reached us yesterday morning. Deceased was a native of Rhinebeck, and a son of Mr. Robert Milroy, of this village. He had spent many years in California, being engaged in hack driving in San Jose for some time. While there he contracted a cold which resulted in an attack of congestion of the lungs. Last year he came east to visit his parents and endeavor to remedy his failing health. As winter approached he found this climate too severe and returned to California, where he engaged in the saloon business with a partner in Gilroy. A few days before his death he consulted an eminent physician who pronounced his case -- augmented as it was by a second cold -- a serious one, and told him he might live a year or die in his (the physician's) office. He attended to his business up to Tuesday night, when he retired to rest, evidently feeling as well as usual. In the morning he was found dead in bed. Aleck, as he was familiarly known to his acquaintances here, had the rare faculty of speedily making friends wherever known. He was in his thirty-second year at the time of his death. His afflicted parents have the sympathy of a large circle of friends among our townsmen.